South Africa wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock said he has rediscovered the desire to represent the Proteas but has ruled out a return to Tests. De Kock retired from ODIs after the 2023 World Cup and was not selected for the shortest format of the game after the 2024 T20 World Cup.
De Kock then reversed his decision to play in ODIs ahead of the Pakistan tour and was in good form for the Proteas. Since his return, the 32-year-old has scored 353 runs in six ODIs at an average of over 72 with two hundreds and two fifties. In T20Is, he scored 121 runs in six matches, with his 90 against India at Mullanpur helping South Africa level the series on Thursday 11 December.
After the win over India, De Kock said he was losing his hunger to play for South Africa and decided to take time out to regain his motivation.
“I think before I retired I was losing my hunger to win games for this team. That time gave me back my hunger. I was telling the boys, I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this,” de Kock spoke in depth about his reasons for making an international comeback.
“Before you were young, you just try to play to score runs and make an impact. I feel now that there’s a renewed energy where I’m not only playing. I’m playing to win every game with a renewed energy.”
“Before, it would have been difficult to wake up and go play for the team again. Especially when you’re playing a back-and-forth series where you’ve played India multiple times, home and away. As time went by, I was getting sick of it. I was looking for a new challenge and I wasn’t getting it.”
De Kock said he feels he can now extend his career for a longer period of time.
“Now that I’m coming back, I feel like this is actually what I’ve been missing. Everyone knows, you never know what you’ve got until you lose it. Now that I’m coming back, there’s a renewed energy where I feel like I can play a lot longer than I thought before,” said the elegant left-hander.
NOT TO TESTS
De Kock last played Tests for South Africa in 2021 during the India series, after which he retired. Despite his new-found energy and South Africa experiencing a massive upheaval in the format with their away series win in India and lifting the WTC title, De Kock said he has no interest in returning to the side.
“You’re not the only one who asked me that, but from now on it’s a clear no,” de Kock said more lightly.
De Kock played 54 Tests for South Africa and scored 3300 runs.
– The end
Published on:
December 12, 2025
